Amina

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“Are you sure about this? It feels weird.”

Korine squinted at me. “Being famous feels weird? Gee, who'd guess.”

“Stop it.”

“Then get over yourself and accept that you now have fans who are fighting over seeing 'where it all began' okay?”

It was crazy to me that Roshio's attempt to make fun of me two months ago had resulted in me growing a core group of fans. They'd dug into the old Caffeline Instagram videos, messaging the account, begging for a chance to meet me in person.

Korine didn’t have to ask twice—I was eager to come visit her in Portland. The never-ending nature of working with Bach and Sherman was exhausting. This trip was tiring, too, but it wasn't purely work.

“On that topic,” she said, pulling something from her purse. I recognized the purple and gold glitter of my debut CD. She stuck out her tongue. “I adore your music. I'm your first fan, so sign this without making me feel more awkward, please.”

I took the black marker and scribbled my name in disbelief. “I'm flattered you like the songs.” It sometimes still hit me that this CD had come close to being locked away from the world because of my aunt's legal team. I hadn't heard a word from her since she'd gotten her money. It was a silver-lining, honestly.

Peeking out the window at the crowd lined up outside the café, I asked, “How are you doing, by the way?”

Her smile went crooked as she tucked the CD into her purse. “Eh. I'm entertaining a sideways career change, we'll see how that goes when this is over with. Come on, I'll show you where the dressing room is.”

“It's the storage room, yeah?”

“I... yes.” She put her hands together apologetically. “It's really clean in there, though! I stayed up all night arranging it for this.”

“It's fine,” I assured her, heading down the familiar hallway. It was strange to think about how recently I'd worked here. Opening the door, I took in the mirrored vanity, the lack of boxes stuffed with coffee grounds. “It's perfect, Korine!”

“It's not; but thank you.” She showed me where she'd hung my outfit for the show. The dress with its full skirts complimented the pearly flats. When I lifted the cat ears and tail, Korine made a small noise. “If you don't want to...”

“It's fine.” Waving the tail around, I tapped her on the nose with it. “Unlike a hastily filmed video, people will see something like this. And it's cute.”

She jumped up and down, squealing. Just then someone knocked on the open door—we both saw Bach. He propped himself on his elbow, eyeing me appreciatively. “She'll look cute in anything.”

“Bach!” I shouted, putting the outfit down. “You made it!”

“Of course I did. I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

“But I thought there was that meeting in LA?”

He shrugged into his ears. “Violet and Sherman are more than capable. In fact, they're probably breathing sighs of relief to not have me getting in their way. They're as good of a team as her and my dad were.”

Korine was squinting at him warily. “The Bach Devine, in the flesh.”

“Oh, sorry. Bach, this is Korine.”

“I know who she is,” he said with a smile. That made her blink. “Nice to meet you.”

Some of the tension faded from her body. “You, too. Um... I'll go check on Nana. She's busy collecting people's tickets.” Korine left, shutting the door behind her.

Bach was on me in a second—all hands and mouth and heat. I kissed him back eagerly. Flying without him had sucked, and I hadn't expected to see him for another day. “I missed you,” I whispered.

“Are you that addicted?” His smirk was razor sharp.

“Like you aren't.” Untangling, I sat at the vanity to get ready.

He motioned over his head. “Quite the crowd, huh?”

“Don't remind me.”

Bach chuckled lightly. “After everything, how can you be nervous?”

“Nerves don't just vanish.” Standing up, I stripped out of my plain shirt and stretch pants. Bach's nostrils flared in obvious lust. I warned him with a stare to keep his hands to himself; I was on a strict timeline. Gliding the dress over my head, I smoothed out the layers of white and black skirts that hung to my knees. “I'm not going to faint, but it's still intimidating to think of all the people waiting to hear me sing.”

“If it helps, I've heard you sing a bunch, and I still get excited every single time.”

Flushing, I hurried to adjust my cat ears. “It's amazing that Korine organized this. She's a whiz with this stuff.”

“Yeah,” Bach agreed. “Hopefully she keeps up the effort when she's working for me.”

I slowly turned towards him. “You mean—did you hire Korine?”

He stared straight ahead with a smug smirk. “Maybe.”

Throwing my arms around his neck, I kissed him multiple times, speaking between each. “You! Are! Amazing!”

“I know. But act surprised when she tells you, I swore I'd keep it a secret, which I've obviously failed at.”

“Keep what a secret?” I teased, pretending to forget. Working with Korine... it's going to be great, and she's going to be so happy.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Yanking it out, Bach rolled his eyes—I saw the name blinking on his phone. “Santino?” I asked. “Why is he calling you?”

“It's the sixth time. He's been begging everyone who'll talk to him to hire him on. Didn't you see the news?” I shook my head. “There were tons of videos of him getting arrested in Vegas after assaulting you. People were throwing stuff at him on stage during his tour. Eckland dropped him before he reached his third city. He's toxic, no one wants him.”

I slid my hands over my mouth. “Jesus.”

“Don't tell me you feel bad for him?”

“A little bit.”

“Well, don't.” Bach turned his phone off and hid it away. “Santino abandoned me when I needed him. Then he kept rubbing it in my face. Seeing him touch you? He's lucky that cop came, I was ready to break him in two. Then he'd have a lot more trouble than just not getting more work.”

Bach's hands balled into fists at his sides. In his loose cotton shirt, his exposed biceps flexed. It was a beautiful sight, like watching a tiger's muscles as it loped along effortlessly. But when Bach saw me staring, he ruffled his hair in chagrin. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “It's hard not to get pissed about some of what went down this past year.”

“I know,” I said, reaching out to curl my hand in his. The slim, silver ring on my finger rubbed on his knuckle. “Try to think of all the great things instead.”

He laughed huskily, as if his mouth was full of syrup. Scooping me against his hard chest, he kissed me until my ears rang. It took Korine busting in, chiding me for making my fans wait, to end the moment.

“Knock them dead,” Bach said.

Fighting against Korine, I waved at him. My face ached from my huge smile. “You better be cheering as loud as everyone else!”

His green eyes twinkled. “I'll be louder than all of them.”

As Korine pushed me around the corner, she spoke in my ear. “I still can't believe you're marrying the exact person you promised not to fall for.”

“Is that what I said?” I asked, grinning at her eyeroll.

“You distinctly said no more bad boys. Are you going to tell me he's different?”

“Yes,” I began, hesitating. “And no.”

“You're crazy.”

“Probably.”

Korine turned me around, making sure my ears were straight, and that the tail I'd begrudgingly agreed to finally wear was on securely. “Let me just ask this. You're happy?”

I pointed at the ring on my finger. “More than happy.”

“Then,” she said, backing away with a satisfied smile, “I guess one more bad boy wasn't such a terrible decision.”

Wrapping her in a tight hug, I breathed out through my nose. “I love you, Korine.”

Her embrace was even tighter. “I love you, too. Now get out there. It's time for you to wow your crowd.”

Rushing through the backdoor of Caffeline, I gaped at the sight. This... this was insane. All these people had come to hear me. I'd never become numb to the life of a star.

The telltale floaty sensation of losing myself began. The energy of hundreds of cheering people overwhelmed me. The patio was only a few feet off the ground, I was nearly face to face with an ocean of strangers.

Keep it together. You've got this.

Over all the screams, I was drawn to one in particular. I don't know how he managed to slip out of the café and get this close to the front, but Bach was right there. Louder than anyone else.

Music crackled through the huge speakers on my left and right. My hand gripped the mic, the engagement ring sparkling. It was my first time wearing it at a show. It, too, gave me strength.

I couldn't wait until four months from now, when I'd finally be able to call myself Bach Devine's wife. When he'd stand with me in front of a crowd like this, telling the world we were in love, promising to never be apart.

He stared at me, and I tried to help him read my mind. I'm not sure that he did, but he smiled wider. I love you, I mouthed.

Bach's shouting stopped for a hitch. I love you, too, he replied.

Without looking away from the man who'd changed my life...

I sang my heart out.

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